An array of damning issues surrounding the quality of care at Tameside general hospital have been exposed in a new report conducted by NHS Medical Director Sir Bruce Keogh.
The report was commissioned by Prime Minister David Cameron and the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP, in order to examine the quality of care and treatment provided by hospital trusts with persistently high mortality rates.
Tameside Trust was one of these hospitals and the report identified that it had a number of areas of concern, including ‘a culture of accepting sub-optimal care’.
It was found that the patients in emergency and acute medical pathways had a poor experience and that urgent action needed to be taken.
The panel was also concerned with infection control practice in the hospital and cited this as an issue requiring immediate attention.
Insufficient senior clinical cover, poor management of deteriorating patients and poor bed management were just some of the findings in Sir Bruce Keogh’s report.
Tameside Trust has presented an action plan to address the issues detailed in the report and a risk summit will be held in September to monitor progress.
In addition to the plan Tameside Trust released a statement on their website which read: “We have accepted the Keogh review recommendations in full and will implement them in full, openly and publicly without exception.
“This will fully meet the concerns and requirements both of the Keogh team and Monitor.”
It continued: “The last few weeks have seen significant change here at Tameside Hospital and we are now on a journey of improvement.
“Standards of care have to be higher and our patients have the right to expect this. What is important now is that we work collectively with our health partners, look to the future and work with our staff within the hospital to raise standards further.
“People can be absolutely reassured that we will work through the inevitable challenges that still lie ahead.
“This is a new start for Tameside Hospital and we very much look forward to supporting it on this exciting journey of improvement and transformational culture change.”
Picture courtesy of NHS Confederation via Flickr, with thanks.
For more on this story and many others, follow Mancunian Matters on Twitter and Facebook.
